Hi guys, I am new to the boards and I got a problem with my steering making noise on my 81 280zx. The part pictured below is where I have isolated the noise to, passenger side of car looking straight down through the engine bay toward the back of he car. I looks like the only part of the steering bolted to the frame. I can't find out what the part is called in my Chilton manual. When I turn my wheel a little in each direction i get a nice banging noise and when I drive the car it rattles and bangs all over the place. When I grab the part I am able to move it up and down and create the noise. My steering is not affected and everything feels fine when driving.
So first off, what the heck is it? Second got any idea what the problem is? I am assuming that it is just a bushing that has worn away over 25 years, but I could be wrong. I rubbed my finger in there inside the top of it (if that makes sence) and there is a gap and alot of nasty brown/black goo inside there. And third, how do I fix it? I can see a bolt on the bottom of it and I assume that If I take that out it will all drop and I can add a bushing or whatever is needed? Thanks alot guys!
BTW I am new here and look foward to being apart of the community!

The photos, sorry for not resizing:
Underside of car:


Top down:

Zoomed View:

 

Thats the idler arm. blackdragonauto.com sells the whole part or just the bushings. It looks like it's cocked to the side in one of the pics there. Which would mean that the bushing is deteriorated or gone. If there is no damage to the unit then you can just get the bushings. I've got a good used one if you want. PM me if you want it.

 

Thanks for the reply, damn Chilton book has nothing about idler arms....figures. So how do I go about replacing that bushing? Does that bolt at the bottom come off and then the assembly drops down? Does the bushing go on the top or bottom of the assembly? Thanks.

 

yep your right just take the nut off and it slides out of the tube then re-install the new bushings, re-install the rod and tighten the nut, dont forget to grease it via the nipple. you gotta grease that every oil change or itll go bad in a hurry. quiky lube kids never do that. you dont even have to take the parts off the car. from your local nissan the bushings are like 10 bucks. oh by the way welcome to zdriver and great pics they help when doing this kinda stuff.

 

Yeah there's two bushings: top and bottom. And yeah, welcome to ZDriver.

And a piece of advice: Toss you POS Chiltons manual and get yourself a Haynes manual. It's no replacement for the FSM, but it's leaps above that Chiltons.

 

The chilton's that covers the 240Z-Z31 in one book the size of the 280ZX Haynes guide? Yeah that book sucks.

 

And the pages are crap too. Get a drop of water on a Chiltons page and it's as good as gone. My Haynes has been left in a puddle of water for a while and I can still use it. Granted it looks like its been through hell and back (4 times atleast) and it's in 4-5 pieces, but it's still here.

 

yep they 'all' have that .. i replaced mine witha nylon bushing